Dragon-Proof Metal
by Wilderwest
Summary: A cancelled story where Hiccup was hit by Toothless's plasma blast in the second movie, but was injured, not killed.
1. Blast

**A/N: Hey, guys. So, this is just a little thing that I thought of when watching Race to the Edge. If you've seen it, y'know how there's that dragon-proof metal? Well, what if Hiccup's armor was made out of that metal, and Stoick hadn't reached him in time?**

 **I'm still working on my Modern AU, Scrawny, but that fic is going to be at least forty chapters long, and this is probably going to be about five, so I just thought I'd get it out of my head and written down while it's still fresh. If you have any thoughts or critiques, please review, I love feedback! :D**

* * *

"Knock it off!" Hiccup holds his hand out at Toothless, desperately trying to find his best friend in the monster advancing on him.

"Stop! Snap out of it!" The slit-eyed creature growls and takes another large step forward.

Stoick is running, sprinting, trying to get to his son. He throws his axe, hoping to sever the rope of a large war machine to create a bridge that will bring him to Hiccup faster.

But the axe misses it's mark, and the Berkian chief curses vemenantly as he is forced to go around the pile of debris. He will make it to his son. He has to.

"Toothless! No! Toothless! Don't!" Hiccup is begging, pleading.

Stoick is too far away. "Hiccup!" He shouts.

"STOP!" Hiccup's hands are in front of him, his entire being focused on the now-unrecognizable Night Fury in front of him.

"SON!" Stoick screams. He's only thirty feet away, but the beast's mouth is open, gas spilling over his jaws.

Hiccup turns sideways and puts up his arms, trying to shield his face. There's a light in the back of Toothless's throat, the same light that has guided Hiccup through dark tunnels and cloudy night skies. The same light that has protected him from countless foes and dangers. The same light that destroyed the Red Death. The same light that will shortly destroy him. In the split second before the plasma exits the dragon, time freezes, and only one thought crosses his mind.

 _But, I just got a family._

There's a blinding whiteness in front of his eyes, and the world disappears.

* * *

"NO!" Stoick never thought he could make the sound that came out of his mouth when he sees his boy fly backwards into the wall of ice. He doesn't even notice that he's collapsed to his knees. His son... his _son_ is laying on his side, the causer of that effect crouched near him, panting deeply. Stoick knows that he should probably shove the beast away from the... _body_ , but he can't. He can't move. He can't comprehend what just happened. He can't feel anything, not the snow seeping through his pants and chilling his knees, not the tears streaming down his face into his beard.

He is jolted back into reality when something crashes into him from behind and hugs his arm.

"No no no no no," Valka is sobbing onto his shoulder.

They stand, each dragging the other one up, and stumble towards their fallen son as fast as their shaking legs can carry them. Drago is no where to be seen, apparently having decided that his work was done.

Stoick falls onto his knees again in front of Hiccup and gently turns his son over onto his back.

"Hiccup, oh, Hiccup, Hiccup," he repeats in whispers.

Under his armor, Hiccup shirt is smoking, and a few holes reveal burned and charred skin underneath. His hands are red with the effects of attempting to defend himself from the blast. A burn snakes up the left side of his face, and the ends of his hair are black and smoldering. Stoick lightly pats the side of his head to put out the sparks on the dark auburn locks.

Valka's trembling fingers reach toward the side of of Hiccup's neck that isn't scorched.

 _Please, please, please, I can't lose him again,_ she prays desperately in her mind.

She presses her index and middle fingers to her son's pulse point. For moment, she feels nothing and almost falls apart. But then—

 _Thump..._

 _Thump..._

 _Thump..._

It's small, and weak, but it's there.

"Stoick," she rasps disbelieving, "Stoick," she repeats, louder and panicked. _How in Valhalla could he have survived this?_

Her husband sees her fingers and hears her tone. He quickly shoves her hand aside and feels Hiccup's neck himself.

He breaths a sigh of amazement and smiles, but the tears are still in his eyes. "How do you keep doing this, son?" He whispers, shocked that Hiccup has somehow survived again. He wants to scream, but he's not sure if it's from joy or worry. Those burns on Hiccup's chest, arm, and face...

Hiccup's lips break open and a whimpered groan escapes them. His barely moving chest hitches and sucks in a pained breath.

Valka's hands fly up to her mouth. "Oh Gods, he's alive, _he's alive,_ " she sobs.

"HICCUP!" The scream of an unfamiliar voice to Valka rips through the air from above. There's the whump of a dragon landing and the sound of sprinting footsteps. The blonde girl that Valka had seen riding the Nadder runs up to the them. She collapses onto her knees beside Stoick.

"Oh my Gods, oh my Gods, is he...?" She gasps frantically, reaching out for the boy in front of her, not sure if she should touch him.

Stock's eyes remain fixed on his son. "He's alive, Astrid, he's alive," he says in a steadier voice than before, and the girl exhales in a way similar to Stoick's sigh of relief.

 _Astrid?_ Valka thinks. _Astrid Hofferson? That little girl born a couple months after Hiccup?_

Suddenly, a warbled moan comes from behind. The three Vikings turn to see a frightened, wide-eyed Night Fury inching his way toward his fallen friend.

"Toothless," Stoick whispers. In one part of his mind, he wants to shove the beast away, the beast that did _this_. In the other, he knows that this is not the dragon's fault.

It is Drago's.

If his son wasn't laying in front of him, just barely clinging to life, Stoick would be tracking down the madman and thinking up different ways of how to stick his head on a stake.

But his son _is_ laying in front of him, barely clinging onto life. And by the way that Hiccup's breath is becoming more labored and what remaining color in his cheeks is fading, Stoick can tell that his grip on the living world is slipping.

* * *

 **A/N: I really like writing injured/sick Hiccup. It just seems like such a good opportunity for character bonding. Please review, I hope you liked it!**


	2. Hurry

**A/N: Why must I torture Hiccup?**

* * *

Toothless gently comes up beside Hiccup and nuzzles his hand, cooing. Hiccup's fingers twitch in pain and and moan wheezes out of him.

Gobber finally reaches his injured apprentice and stands next to Stoick, placing his remaining hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Oh, Hiccup," he breathes, thinking the worst.

"Gobber, he's alive," Stoick sums up quickly.

"What? How?"

Stoick shakes his head. "I don't know. That... the blast should have killed him." Valka let's loose a shaken sob.

Gobber takes a deep breath. "What's your plan?"

"We have to move him somewhere safe for a now. Then get him back to Berk," Stoick says, trying to keep his cool.

"Stoick, I think... Drago's heading there right now."

Stoick's head spins around. Yep, the ships are beginning to set sail, heading south. He gulps. "I... that doesn't matter. He needs Gothi. She'll be the best chance he has."

Gobber understands. Stoick's spent his whole life knowing Gothi to be the best healer in the archipelago. She's taken care of Hiccup during every other major injury or illness, and she probably is the best chance he has right now.

"Val, do you have any herbs in the ice cave?"

Valka nods feverishly. She's still in shock. The son, _her_ _son_ , that she hasn't seen in twenty years, he almost... her son _almost_...

"Good, we'll take him there."

More dragons land near them, and other people surround them. Valka vaguely recognizes that they're the other dragon riders. She and Stoick whisper in careful voices as Astrid tells the newly arrived that Hiccup is alive.

"We need to keep him stable, though, there could be spinal damage," Stoick says, almost to himself. "We need a board, or a plank, to carry him on."

He's not panicking anymore. He's working. Working to save his son. Panicking gets in the way of working. That doesn't mean he isn't freaked out as Hel, though.

It's similar, too similar, to five years ago and the battle of the Red Death. Stock tries to tell himself that, yes, those were some of most frightening weeks of his life, but Hiccup survived. He got right back on his feet (metal and flesh) and kept going. This time will turn out the same. It has to.

"Snotlout and twins, we need a _wide, long plank_. Big enough to use as a stretcher!" He hollers. "Fishlegs, get over here!"

The Jorgenson and Thortston siblings run off into the battle ruins along with the dragon trapper who'd been riding with Astrid. Fishlegs, Astrid, Stoick, and Valka crowd back around the wounded boy.

Hiccup's eyelids are purple, dark, and tired looking. The skin on his face and hands that isn't burned is almost as white as the snow underneath him. His features are scrunched with a pain that he can feel even in his seemingly unconscious state.

"This is bad, this is really, really bad," Fishlegs mutters, as he takes note of his friend's wounds.

"Thanks a _lot_ , Fishlegs," says Astrid, annoyance for the negative comment showing through her tear-filled eyes. She sniffles and rubs at her nose furiously. _She will not fall apart. She **will not**_. "He needs to be kept warm," she says, businesslike and trying to keep her emotions under her skin.

Stoick rips off his cloak and drapes it over his son. He brushes his fingers lightly through Hiccup's hair. "Stay with me, Hiccup, keep breathing, that's it, just stay with me..." He bends down towards Hiccup and whispers soothing words, not even sure if his son can hear him through the pain.

Fast, running footsteps approach them, and the others arrive with a six-foot-long board.

"Is he... is he gonna be okay?" Ruffnut asks, sounding more frightened than maybe anyone has ever heard her.

Stoick bites his lip. "Only if we hurry."

Suddenly, Astrid asks what no one had thought of. "Wait, where's Toothless?"

* * *

 **A/N: So, I actually think I'm going to make this story about ten chapters long...**

 **I hope you enjoy this little AU, please review!**


	3. Aftermath

**A/N: I've been really busy lately, and I'm trying to write the next chapter of my other story, I'm so sorry.**

* * *

"Where's Toothless?"

Astrid's question takes the group by surprise, they have all been too focused on the wounded boy they're crowded around. They all spin their heads, searching for the midnight scales of the dragon.

Snotlout is the first to spot him. "Over there!" He points to the far side of the packed-down-snow battlefield.

The Night Fury is flailing around like a fish out of water. He'll try to fly toward the direction of the Bad Alpha, ridden by Drago and swimming away from the island on top of the ice-grey water, but then he'll attempt to change direction and come back toward...

"Oh Gods," Astrid whispers in dismay, realizing the situation the dragon is currently in. She swivels back to Hiccup, taking in his pained expression. At first glance, she thinks that the moisture on his cheeks (one startlingly pale, the other red with burns) is sweat, but then she sees that there are tears leaking out from underneath his swollen eyelids. She kisses her own fingertips and brushes her hand lightly against his through the fur cloak over him. "Be here when I get back," she breathes toward him, not even telling anyone else what she's planning to do.

Before she even registers what she's doing, she's halfway across the snow, her legs a blur, her eyes fixed on the creature in front of her. She skids to a stop from her sprint and takes a couple frightened steps backwards.

Toothless' pupils are shifting from razor-sharp slits to horrified black globs inside his lime green eyes.

She could just run back to Hiccup, and forget about the dragon.

No. If Hiccup doesn't die, he _would_ if loses his best friend. He can survive without Astrid, or Stoick, or, of course, Valka, but Toothless...

If Hiccup lost Toothless, Hiccup would be lost as well.

"H- hey, Toothless," Astrid says cautiously and taking a careful step forward. At the sound of her voice, Toothless steadies slightly and whips his head toward her. He growls and bares his teeth at her, his eyes flickering violently. She gasps in fear and almost jumps back, but she forces herself to stay put. Something tells her that not standing her ground would make things worse.

"It's Astrid, Toothless. You know me, right?" She stretches out both hands toward him, trying make them seem more inviting than defensive.

The beast's teeth sink slowly into his gums and his pupils begin to grow. Astrid sighs. _Well, that was easier than I expected._

But then he glances back toward the shrinking tornado cloud of hypnotized dragons above the fleet of ships and the monster begins to return. He looks over at the group crowded around the body of his best friend and he whimpers and shakes his head vigorously.

"No, no, Toothless, it's okay, it's okay!" Astrid says, trying to calm him down. She doesn't notice how far forward she's come until her cold hands are settling on either side of Toothless's head. He longer flails, but his eyes still shudder, trying to decide to join the Alpha and leave, or to fight and stay.

"Hey," Astrid's tone softens. Toothless blinks, hard, and when his eyelids slide back open, wetness is pooled along the bottom of his green irises. "Toothless, you know that you'd never do this on purpose. You'd _never_ hurt him."

 _But I did,_ Toothless thinks.

" _You'd never hurt Hiccup_."

At the sound of his friend's name, his pupils dilate fully.

"Please, Toothless, he needs you. Stay with him."

The dragon makes a noise and gives Astrid's cheek a small kiss. She let's out a small, sad laugh.

"Alright, let's go." The Viking leaps onto the Night Fury's back and urges him forward. In no time, they're back to the injured boy.

Astrid runs to Stoick's side.

"Is Toothless..?"

"He's okay," she answers, panting.

Stoick nods. "We're going to move him now," he says, bringing her full attention back to Hiccup.

He looks even more terrible than before. His breathing is short and quick, and his whole body is trembling slightly.

The wooden board has been placed directly beside him. Stoick slides his hands underneath his son's shoulders while Snotlout grasps his legs and Gobber puts his hand under Hiccup's waist.

"On three," Stoick says firmly, "One... two... three!"

They lift him swiftly and smoothly onto the makeshift stretcher. Hiccup groans when he comes up off the ground and gasps when he lands on the wood. Astrid reaches down and grabs Valka's hand, barely knowing the woman, but just needing something to hold on to. Valka squeezes back.

"Val, is there an entrance into the cave from the ground?"

Valka nods. She seems a bit more together. "Yes. Yes, there are some natural formed stairs over there," she points to a part of the mountain with an empty, dark hole a quarter way up, "They continue upwards through a tunnel and lead straight to my... to the cave." Even though she's steadier, there's a noticeable quiver in her voice.

On another count of three, Snotlout and Stoick pick up the stretcher. Hiccup doesn't make any noise, but his face pinches in agony.

The small group begins moving at a quick powerwalk toward the side of the mountain, Fishlegs (surprisingly silent as he walks beside Snotlout), Eret and the twins distanced behind them by a few feet.

Tears are quietly dripping down Valka's face as she walks next to Stoick and Gobber. Astrid walks next to Hiccup's head, the side of his face that isn't scorched.

Getting up the steps are difficult. Everyone walks behind the stretcher while Stoick and Snotlout maneuver the board cautiously, careful not to let Hiccup slide off. They enter the mountain and become engulfed in darkness. Astrid whispers to the Night Fury at the back of the group, "Slow burn, Toothless?"

The dragon looks at her nervously, afraid to use his fire so soon after what just happened.

Astrid runs a gentle, shaking hand across his head. "It'll be fine."

Toothless opens his jaws an inch and the tunnel becomes lit with a purple-blue glow. Valka and Eret, having never before witnessed this phenomenon with this species of dragon, become shocked for a moment in awe before regaining focus and continuing.

Occasionally, Stoick or Snotlout will slip slightly and Gobber will have to steady Hiccup on the plank, releasing a groan from the limp-bodied young man. At each and every noise, Astrid wants to scream.

After what feels like forever, they arrive in a cave that is clearly inhabited by a human being. Nobody has time to observe their surroundings, however.

Valka quickly clears off a large step of rock that resembles a kitchen counter, and Hiccup is placed on the stone. Stoick, Gobber, Valka, Fishlegs, and Astrid immediately set to work on him, while the others step back a ways.

"Astrid," the chief's voice startles her, and her eyes jump to meet his frightenedly, "I'm not sure how to remove his armor, could you...?"

She nods, and forces her fingers to stay still as she unbuckles the chest plate and the notebook underneath. Gobber undoes the straps of Hiccup's prosthetic and takes off the leg and his boot, setting them out of the way, then carefully slides off Hiccup's pants, revealing a bright red burn on his left thigh that Astrid hadn't noticed before.

She finally removes his shoulder pads and arm-guarders and puts them on an empty part of stone above Hiccup's head. She makes the mistake of glancing down his body, just as Stoick slices away the remainder of Hiccup's tunic with a dagger. Large areas of his abdomen and chest are crimson red, and there are smaller spots of actual black, charred skin. She turns her head away and focuses on his hair, stroking her fingers through it in a way soothing to her.

Fishlegs comes up next to her to put a wet cloth on Hiccup's forehead just as Gobber says, "I don't understand... how did he manage to survive this, Stoick?"

Everyone turns to look at the red-bearded warrior, and he shakes his head and stares down at Hiccup's face uncomprehendingly.

"Oh my Thor," comes an amazed whisper to Astrid's left, and everybody spins to see Fishlegs looking at Hiccup's armor, running his fingers over it. Noticing everyone's attention on him, he jolts. "Hiccup's armor, it's... it's made of dragon-proof metal. It seems to be reinforced, too, _how did he even make this_..." Fishlegs trails off.

Astrid bends down to be eye level with Hiccup's head. "You clever little bastard," she whispers, "It's like you have nine lives or something," she gently fingers the braids in his auburn locks that she made less than a week ago. She can't lose him. She doesn't care what special tricks have managed to let him cheat death yet again, just as long as he survives the after effects. "Please don't run out of them now."

* * *

 **A/N: I really really really hate this ending, it sounds so stupid and forced, I just wanted to post another chapter as quickly as I could.**

 **Thank you so much for reading this, please review!**


	4. Pain

**A/N: Sorry that I got stalled on this story, I had to update my other one, and I started a YouTube channel: Queen of the Wilderwest. Also, I think I'm going to make this story much longer than five chapters, maybe even fifteen. I'll try to get a plan together with it and update more frequently.**

 **I tried to do as much research on Viking Age medicine, it's kinda hard to find a lot of information, though.**

* * *

"We need a basin of water and some clean cloths," Fishlegs says after he snaps out of his fascination with the armor. Gobber nods and grabs a large hollowed-out wooden bowl from the counter, walking over to the stream of water dripping down from an icicle and putting it underneath. Fishlegs turns to Valka. "Uh, strange, unfamiliar woman, you... you said you had herbs?"

"This is Hiccup's mother, Fishlegs," Astrid says from her post at Hiccup's head, fingers still gently running through his hair.

Fishlegs does a double take. "Wait, what? His— his WHAT?" He gapes at the woman, who looks both ashamed and embarrassed along with the worry already adorning her face. The rest of the group, Snotlout and the twins, look shocked as well. Eret simply looks confused, and Astrid sees him whisper to Snotlout, who then turns to the dragon trapper tells him how Hiccup's mother is supposed to be dead.

Stoick scowls. "Explanations can come later, Fishlegs. What herbs do you need?"

Astrid slaps the boy's arm and he jumps, shaking himself mentally. "Oh, yeah, um, we need some _angelica archangelica_ to make tea, that'll help fight infection and fever. We need a marigold poultice, too, to spread on the burns."

Valka nodded. "I have those."

"Do you... have anything for pain?"

Astrid looks down at Hiccup's face, his lips parted, sucking in desperate breaths, his face scrunched and his eyes shut tight from the unimaginable hurt he was experiencing.

Valka shakes her head, staring regrettably at her wounded son. "No, I... I treat dragons, and they don't... I don't use anything for their pain. There's nothing strong enough for them, anyway."

Valka hates herself for not having anything to relieve her baby of his agony, or not being able to stop it entirely. That's what mothers are supposed to do, right?

Fishlegs nods shakily. "Okay, that's okay, I guess. Could you get the angelica and marigold, though?"

Valka hurries off towards the back of the cave, a darker section with strings of dried plants hanging on the wall, just as Gobber comes back with the bowl full of water.

"Val, do you have any cloths!?" Stoick asks.

"Y— yes, on that top shelf!"

While Stoick and Fishlegs dipped rags in the water and draped them over Hiccup's most serious burns, Astrid calmed Toothless. She had almost forgotten about the dragon until he whimpered at her side and nudged her hand, asking if his boy would be alright.

She runs her hands over his head and scratches his chin comfortingly. "It's okay, Toothless, it's... he's gonna be fine, like he always is," her voice is as steady as it's been since the blast. The words she speaks to the Night Fury are what she's wishing are true, what she wishes someone will tell her.

Fishlegs moves one of the cloths and it drags across a burn on Hiccup's chest and he gasps in pain. Fishlegs winces. He dips a smaller piece of fabric and hands in to Astrid. "Gently clean the burn on face, please?"

Astrid nods and, just like he said, gently drapes it over the left side of Hiccup's face.

Stoick and Gobber are cleaning the burns on his lower body, the scorch on his left thigh and ones on his stomach, and his hands, which are bright maroon from his attempts to defend himself. Toothless sniffs his hair and whimpers. Astrid carefully moves the cloth around and squeezes parts of it so that the cool water will drizzle over the redness. She frowns and peels up the edge to look at Hiccup's left eye. It looks... not good. His eyes aren't open, obviously, but his left eyelid looks irritated and swollen.

"Fishlegs," Astrid says, but the Ingerman is busy mixing the herbs that Valka just brought to him with a mortar and pestle. "Fishlegs," she repeats a bit louder, and his eyes flick up immediately.

"Is something wrong?" He bustles up to Hiccup's head and Astrid points.

"His eye..." she trails off and Fishlegs nods.

"There are more injuries than just the burns," he's speaking to the rest of them, too, who all turned to Astrid in fright after she called for Fishlegs, "I'm certain that he has at least three broken ribs, a broken wrist, a sprained shoulder, maybe some broken fingers, too, concussion, probably, and maybe nerve damage, and possibly internal bleeding, and he might lose his eye..."

Astrid's eyes widen in fear.

"We need to get him to Berk as soon as possible," Stoick interjects Fishlegs' blabbering rundown of the wounds.

"How?" Asks Gobber.

"We don't have any dragons," Astrid jumps when Snotlout speaks from beside her. He stares down at his cousin with an expression of horror and worry.

"We have Toothless," says Astrid.

"I don't know how to work his new foot pedal," says Stoick concernedly, "Do you, Astrid?"

She stares at the stirrup on the confused-looking Night Fury and bites her lip. "Um, I— I think I do. If we're just going long distance... I know how to lock the tail."

Fishlegs nods and begins to spread the herb poultice on Hiccup's burns and the injured boy's fingers suddenly twitch violently and his breathing quickens and becomes gasping.

"What's happening?! Fishlegs?!" Yelps Astrid.

Toothless cries out.

Stoick rushes to Hiccup's head and strokes his fingers through his hair in a way similar to what Astrid had been doing, but much more fatherly and frantic. "It's okay, son, it's okay, you're fine, you're going to be fine..." He mutters urgently to his son. Valka puts her hands over her mouth and sobs, too scared to think about moving from her spot at Hiccup's feet and joining her husband.

Hiccup calms down, his muscles relax and his breathy evens slightly, but he looks noticeably more pale and exhausted.

"What in the hell was that?" Demands Astrid shakily.

Valka comes up to them and her quivering hands deliver the angelica tea to Stoick's. Astrid is surprised that strong, warrior-like woman who commanded a Bewilderbeast is this... teary.

Then again, this _is_ her son who she almost lost within days of reuniting with.

"Okay, yeah, we need to get him back to Berk," says Fishlegs, "He's barely unconscious, he needs stronger drugs than just tea," he stares down at the face that's usually bright happy, but now masked over with suffering, "If he wakes up and feels the full extent of... everything, the pain... the shock could be enough to kill him."

* * *

 **A/N: Don't worry, this won't be a death fic. And yes, I know that that last line was pathetically over dramatic, but this is a drama fic, so, whatever, I guess. Please review :D**


	5. ANNOUNCEMENT

So, I'm canceling this story. I saw the new episodes of RTTE, and some of the stuff I was planning to write for _Dragon-Proof Metal_ just didn't fit. Maybe I'll redo this someday, but for now it's cancelled. I'll leave this message up for a little bit and then I'll delete this fic.

Have an awesome 2016 everyone! And please check my YouTube channel: Queen of the Wilderwest, and my Modern AU fic: _Scrawny_ , a Hiccstrid story in which Hiccup suffers from an eating disorder.

Love you guys, see you hopefully soon!


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